adj · noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈməʊtaɪl/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:M OW1 T AH0 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
In organisms: having the power to move spontaneously.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
Examples
1914 Shelford, Victor E.: The American Naturalist: Comparison of the Responses of Sessile and Motile Plants and Animals Sessile organisms are those which are sedentary in habit, whether attached or possessing slight powers of locomotion. Motile organisms are those that habitually move about. Vagile or creeping forms as well as swimming, walking, flying, burrowing types are included. Most sessile animals are capable of moving their parts, while only a few sessile plants possess this capacity, and these only to a slight degree. There is no sharp distinction between sessile (sedentary) and motile organisms. Every possible gradation exists between fixed non-motile types as trees on the one hand and the pelagic fishes on the other.
2010 Steven M. Carr: Origin of Evolutionary Novelty, The Garstang Hypothesis Memorial University of Newfoundland Modern As (Subphylum Urochordata) typically have a motile tadpole larva that undergoes metamorphosis to a sessile adult.
In organs or organelles: capable of producing motion.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
Examples
1857 Philip Henry Gosse: On the Presence of Motile Organs , and the Power of Locomotion, in Foraminifera ... . These [Foraminifera] were always found, a few hours after the weed had been deposited in my vases, adhering to the glass, with the pseudopodia extended ... constantly roaming ; they crawled up and down the stems and branches of the Algae, and over the various objects in the tank, never remaining long in. one station ... it is by means of the adhesion and contraction of the pseudopodia, that the animal drags itself along....
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
In organs: having the power to move their contents, or to change their shape or tension by writhing or contracting as required by their particular physiological functions.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: medicine, physiology, sciences
Examples
2007 H E König et al: Veterinary Anatomy of Domestic Mammals Visceral motility' is responsible for transporting the contents of the different organs. Thus it controls the amount of contents found in any organ at any one time. Through contraction and dilatation mechanisms, the food bolus passes through the intestinal tract, the gall bladder secretes bile, urine is excreted, semen is transported and the uterus wall contracts during birth. This motility is also responsible for the closing of sphincters, for example at the stomach exit (pylorus) or in the bladder. The diastole and systole of the heart can be understood as the motility of the circulatory system.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adj
Meaning 4
Of or relating to those mental images that arise from the sensations of bodily movement and position.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A person whose prevailing mental imagery takes the form of inner feelings of action, such as incipient pronunciation of words, muscular innervations, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
adjective satellite
Meaning 6
(of spores or microorganisms) capable of movement
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
one whose prevailing mental imagery takes the form of inner feelings of action
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Etymology tree Latin mōtus Latin -īlislbor. English -ile English motile From Latin mōtus, perfect passive participle of moveō (“to move”) (English move), + -ile.
Across languages
Translations
9 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Finnish:
motiili
— Having the power to move spontaneously
French:
motile
— Having the power to move spontaneously
German:
beweglich
— Having the power to move spontaneously
Italian:
mobile
— Having the power to move spontaneously
Polish:
ruchomy
— Having the power to move spontaneously
Polish:
ruchliwy
— Having the power to move spontaneously
Portuguese:
móvel
— Having the power to move spontaneously
Slovak:
pohyblivý
— Having the power to move spontaneously
Spanish:
móvil
— Having the power to move spontaneously
